Nick Clegg advises Lord Rennard to promise apology and then change his mind

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has told Lord Rennard that the only way out of his current situation is to promise a course of action only to change his mind once he finds himself in a position of power.

The former Lib Dem Chief Executive is currently suspended from the party, a position Nick Clegg said is completely temporary if he is prepared to make the right promises to the right people.

The Lib Dem leader told Rennard, “A promise is just some words, spoken or written down, that don’t carry any legal weight whatsoever when you make them – I should know.”

“I’m not saying that he definitely needs to follow through on any promises he makes, I’m just saying that he needs to promise to apologise at some future point – maybe he could put it in some sort of manifesto document.”

“Then, when he’s back in the party in a powerful position like Chief Executive he can decide if he wants to keep that promise, or not.”

“Circumstances do change, and they can provide an excellent way of justifying the complete disregard of any promises you might have made in the past.”

“It’s the Liberal Democrat way.”

Lord Rennard under pressure

Political analysts have said Lord Rennard could find himself in an unexpected position of power within the party simply by following the example set by the party’s leader.

A one explained, “Making hollow promises becomes quite easy after a while, especially when you realise that the words leaving your mouth have absolutely no real-world consequence for the actions you might have to take in future.”